Blaž Slišković

Blaž "Baka" Slišković (born 30 May 1959) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player.

He is regarded as one of the most successful Bosnian football managers.

As a player, Slišković was capped 26 times for Yugoslavia in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

After retiring from playing, he became a successful manager.

With Velež, Slišković won the 1980–81 Yugoslav Cup and the 1980–81 Balkans Cup, while with Hajduk he won the 1983–84 Yugoslav Cup and was also part of the Hajduk team that made it all the way to the semi-finals of the 1983–84 UEFA Cup.

Slišković was most famous while playing for French Ligue 1 club Marseille.

After Marseille, Slišković played in Italy with Pescara, before returning to France and playing for Lens, Mulhouse and Rennes.

Slišković was prevented from playing in the 1982 FIFA World Cup due to an injury, sustained in the second half during a 1981–82 Yugoslav First League match between OFK Beograd and Hajduk Split.

He then lost his place in the UEFA Euro 1984 Yugoslav squad after, allegedly, a Yugoslav-printed newspaper journalist quoted Slišković incorrectly after an interview after a friendly game between Yugoslavia and Switzerland (0–2) and caused the national team head coach, Todor Veselinović, to drop him from the squad.

In 1985, he was named the Yugoslav Footballer of the Year.

He had the most success while playing for hometown club Velež Mostar and Croatian club Hajduk Split.

His final international was a November 1986 European Championship qualification match away against England.

Slišković began to play for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team after the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.

In 1992, he returned to Italy and came back to Pescara.

In 1993, Slišković left Italy and joined Croatian club Hrvatski Dragovoljac, where he stayed until 1995.

He played three unofficial friendly games for Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1993 as the captain in all three games.

Finally, in 1996 he joined Bosnian club Zrinjski Mostar, where he eventually finished his career in 1997 at the age of 38.

Right after ending his playing career, Slišković became the new manager of Hrvatski Dragovoljac in 1997.

He managed Dragovoljac until 1998, after which he joined Zrinjski Mostar.

In January 1999, Slišković joined Brotnjo and won the Herzeg-Bosnia Cup with the club in May of that same year.

In the winter of 2000, he left Brotnjo and became an assistant manager to Mišo Smajlović in the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.

Slišković became the head coach of the national team in March 2002, after Smajlović left the team because of his contract expiring.

In 2004, he won the award "Best Bosnia and Herzegovina Coach" by Dnevni avaz and the "Bosnia and Herzegovina Man of the Year" also in 2004.

While Bosnia and Herzegovina head coach, on 24 August 2004, Slišković replaced Ivan Katalinić and simultaneously became the new Hajduk Split manager.

On 10 April 2005, he got sacked at Hajduk.

From 2005 until 2007, Slišković once again managed Zrinjski Mostar, making decent results.

Slišković stayed as the head coach until 2006.

By the summer of 2008, he was appointed manager of Albanian Superliga club Tirana, but shortly after left the club in December of that year.

In March 2010, Romanian club Unirea Alba Iulia hired Slišković until the end of the season, replacing Adrian Falub.

In July 2011, French football manager and former player, Zinedine Zidane, named Slišković as one of his idols while growing up and included him in his "All Time Best 11" of Marseille.

During his playing days, Slišković was considered one of the most technically gifted players of his generation.

In 2011, for the 100th anniversary of Hajduk Split, Slišković was chosen in the "Hajduk Split Best 11 of all-time".

Although most experts expected Slišković to make a great international career, he was only capped 26 times for Yugoslavia.

He scored three goals in the process.

In April 2011, he again came back to Bosnia and Herzegovina taking the manager position at Bosnian Premier League club Široki Brijeg, reaching the fourth position in the 2010–11 Bosnian Premier League season and qualifying for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round.

On 19 January 2012, Chinese Super League side Qingdao Jonoon announced that they signed a contract with Slišković to replace South Korean manager Chang Woe-ryong.

From April to June 2015, he once again managed Široki Brijeg.

In March 2017, Slišković again took the manager position at Zrinjski Mostar for the third time in his career, eventually leading the team to win the Bosnian Premier League in the 2016–17 season.

In the 2017–18 season, he won his second league title in a row with Zrinjski.

After winning two league trophies, Slišković left Zrinjski in June 2018.